Northeast Ohio has produced quite a few comedy legends - and Mary Santora just might end up among their ranks.
Named "Comedian of the Year" at the second annual Cleveland Comedy Awards in March, Santora is certainly a star of the local stand-up scene. These days, you'll find her headlining a number of local comedy clubs, including Hilaritites, where she met up with WKYC's Alexa Lee.
But comedy stardom almost wasn't in the cards for the Berea native, because long before she was selling out shows, she almost took a very different career path.
"I was in school at the University of Toledo... studying pharmacy. And uh yea that didn’t go well," she told Alexa.
In fact, Santora left Toledo shortly after signing up for a student stand-up competition.
"I started stand-up in February of 2012 and I withdrew from my classes in April because I was delusional. And I was like oh, I'm going to be famous, I’m going to be famous overnight. Like this is so easy, - I can make my peers laugh, I’m going to be on Comedy Central," Santora joked.
"And it’s not like that at all. And now 7 years later I have a lot better grip on how much work it is. And how much goes into it."
Santora does work hard at her craft - devoting night after night to perfecting her signature brand of relatable comedy, often hitting the road for out of town gigs.She's in such demand on the road that she was also given the "Road Warrior" honor at the Comedy Awards this year.
But her Cleveland roots run deep - and she says Clevelanders have a great sense of humor. "We’ve been the butt of jokes for so long. I think it’s always good to laugh at yourself and be able to put that out there first...Cleveland has a good sense of humor and that’s something that’s been instilled in me from living here and growing up here," Santora said.
So what's next for the reigning queen of Cleveland comedy? Sadly for us, it may involve a move away from Northeast Ohio.
"I wanna do this all over the country for a living 40 weeks a year. Ideally, I want to move to NY or LA just because those are the hubs, that’s where there’s people, that’s where there’s industry, That’s where you get seen for late night and things like that. I’m actually going to NY in a few months to visit and just to get a feel for it. I’ve always been drawn to that city, just the hustle of it. I will probably end up in New York would be my guess in the next couple years and then try to take it from there."